Alpurrurulam, from the original Aboriginal name ''Ilperrelhelame'', also known as Lake Nash, is a locality in the Northern Territory of Australia located in the territory's east about south-east of the territory capital of Darwin and about east of the municipal seat of

Tennant Creek Tennant Creek ( wrm, Jurnkkurakurr) is town located in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is the seventh largest town in the Northern Territory, and is located on the Stuart Highway, just south of the intersection with the western termin ...

and about from the border with the state of

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

. The town is at the end of the

Sandover Highway The Sandover Highway is an outback unsealed track in the Northern Territory between the Plenty Highway north of Alice Springs and the Northern Territory/Queensland border. Description The highway's name is derived from the Sandover River becau ...

, which floods each year during the

wet season The wet season (sometimes called the Rainy season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. It is the time of year where the majority of a country's or region's annual precipitation occurs. Generally, the sea ...

and cuts all road access to the community.

History

The waterhole known as Lake Nash to European settlers was used by Aboriginal peoples for millennia, and was called Ilperrelhelame in the

Alyawarre language Arrernte or Aranda (; ) or sometimes referred to as Upper Arrernte (Upper Aranda), is a dialect cluster in the Arandic language group spoken in parts of the Northern Territory, Australia, by the Arrernte people. Other spelling variations are A ...

. It has many Dreaming legends attached to it, and the local

Alyawarre The Alyawarre, also spelt Alyawarr and also known as the Iliaura, are an Aboriginal Australian people, or language group, from the Northern Territory. The Alyawarre are made up of roughly 1,200 associated peoples and actively engage in local tra ...

people lived in a traditional way, hunting and foraging and performing their

ceremonies A ceremony (, ) is a unified ritualistic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion. The word may be of Etruscan origin, via the Latin '' caerimonia''. Church and civil (secular) ...

until 1920. Alpurrurulam grew out of disagreement between the owners of Lake Nash Station and the Aboriginal people living near the Georgina River, many of whom worked at the cattle station. In the early 1980s it was planned to move the community to Bathurst Downs, which was regarded as “poison country” by the local Alyawarre. In 1982 the community requested some land of their own near the station, addressing the then Chief Minister of the Northern Territory Government. After a legal battle, was excised from the

pastoral lease A pastoral lease, sometimes called a pastoral run, is an arrangement used in both Australia and New Zealand where government-owned Crown land is leased out to graziers for the purpose of livestock grazing on rangelands. Australia Pastoral lease ...

of the

Lake Nash Station Lake Nash Station, most commonly known as Lake Nash, is a cattle station on the Barkly Tableland in the Northern Territory, Australia. Location It is situated approximately west of Alpurrurulam and south of Camooweal. The property shares ...

and given back in 1983, forming what is now Alpurrurulam. The Alpurrurulam Land Aboriginal Corporation (ALAC), a board of community elders, was established as landowner. The Alpurrurulam Community Government Council (CGC) was the

local government authority A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a state, province, division, or territory. The phrase i ...

until 1 July 2008, when there was an amalgamation of councils into a new

shire Shire is a traditional term for an administrative division of land in Great Britain and some other English-speaking countries such as Australia and New Zealand. It is generally synonymous with county. It was first used in Wessex from the beginn ...

framework and the town was absorbed into the

Barkly Shire The Barkly Region, formerly Barkly Shire, is a local government area of the Northern Territory of Australia, administered by the Barkly Regional Council. The region's main town is Tennant Creek. The region covers an area of and had a populati ...

Governance and population

Alpurrurulam is located within the federal division of Lingiari, the territory electoral division of Barkly and the local government area of the Barkly Region, in the ward of Alpurrurulam. The town is usually called Alpurrurulam or Lake Nash. The town is mostly referred to as Lake Nash colloquially, and for mail delivery (via Mount Isa), and Alpurrurulam for all official matters, such as a

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

. The 2016 Australian census which was conducted in August 2016 reports that Alpurrurulam had a population of 420 people of whom 387 (92.1%) identified as being

Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

. The people of Alpurrurulam have close historical ties with the people of

Ampilatwatja Utopia is an Aboriginal Australian homeland area formed in November 1978 by the amalgamation of the former Utopia pastoral lease with a tract of unalienable land to its north. It covers an area of , transected by the Sandover River, and lies on ...

, in

Utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', describing a fictional ...

Facilities

Services include the Barkly Regional Council Alpurrurulam Service Centre, aged care facilities, night patrol, sport and recreation, Centrelink, a post office, the Warte Alparayetye community-owned store, Alpurrurulam Community School (to Year 9), and the Rainbow Gateway, a new community development program. It also has a small

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

club. There is an airstrip, with planes departing for Mt Isa for health appointments once a week, and a special mail plane on Fridays. A

wind farm A wind farm or wind park, also called a wind power station or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used Wind power, to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundre ...

and a

solar farm Solar may refer to: Astronomy * Of or relating to the Sun ** Solar telescope, a special purpose telescope used to observe the Sun ** A device that utilizes solar energy (e.g. "solar panels") ** Solar calendar, a calendar whose dates indicate t ...

with hybrid solar-diesel power system, were installed in 2011–2012.

References

{{authority control Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory